Page 22 of A Fate of Ice and Lies (Fated #1)

Chapter

Nine

ELIAS

Walking through the snow took more effort than it should have. My feet felt leaden with each step throbbing everywhere simultaneously.

A few steps ahead of me, my uncle cast me a disgusted look while George tried to keep him engaged in conversation. I shoved my hands in the pockets of my pants and watched each step I took to avoid stumbling and disappointing Uncle Hudson further.

My uncle’s Guardian, Sama, and Nalari walked behind us, making the ground unsteady as they shook it with their heavy footfalls.

Everly tucked a hand through my arm. “Almost there,” she whispered.

My heart thudded loudly in my aching head, and with every step, each breath, I used up more energy I simply didn’t have. “Is it this hard for you when you go into town to work every day?”

One side of her lips quirked up in amusement. “You’re doing a lot worse than I ever have,” she teased .

I nudged her side with my elbow.

“It’s different having some of my magic stripped from the Guardians,” she said. “It’s not as draining as when I’ve depleted my magic. It’s more like... something inherent is missing, but I don’t feel tired without it.”

I nodded in answer. With George keeping my uncle busy with whatever they spoke about, I took the opportunity to thank my friend.

“Nalari told me you didn’t take any magic,” I said.

She waved away my words as if they were nothing.

I braced a hand over hers and squeezed, making her face me. “I mean it, Everly. It wasn’t fair for me to ask you to give up your magic entirely. You did it without question, and then you turned down the chance to have magic back for a few hours.” I shook my head. “I don’t deserve your friendship.”

Her smile grew, and she tucked a strand of her silver hair behind her ear. “I didn’t need magic to play with those two fools. We had fun today. Maybe George and Brent needed magic to enjoy themselves, but I didn’t.”

The closer we came to the town square, the more people I saw standing around.

It wasn’t just the people of Colina Verde but those from the surrounding towns.

Thousands of people in one small spot, reminding me just how insignificant all my efforts had been.

There were too many, and despite how much Nalari and I grew and hunted, we couldn’t feed them all as well as the fae that policed their towns.

It was too far for them to see us yet with their human eyes, but I saw them, their drawn faces and worried expressions. I could feel their anxiety in waiting. The air was heavy with tension and fear while the wind seemed to pick up their erratic heartbeat and carry it to my ears .

After a few steps, I stopped moving when I spotted Teddy’s figure wringing her hands together, Victoria clinging to her leg. Everly tugged the arm she still held on to.

I turned to her, my eyes pleading. “I can’t do this, Everly.” I licked my lips. “I can’t be the source of her fear or pain.”

She peered back at me in sympathy, her helplessness mirroring mine.

Brenton came to my other side and rested a hand on my hunched shoulder.

Nalari and Sama stopped while the distance between my uncle and me grew as he trekked toward Teddy and the people of the towns I oversaw.

I could taste the sourness of their hatred on my tongue.

“Everly, you should go,” Brenton said. “Teddy can’t see you with us.”

It all came down to Teddy. Started and ended with her.

When Everly let go of my arm, I stumbled, but she didn’t look back as she ran toward the woods we’d just left. My friend grabbed my arm to keep me upright.

I swallowed, allowing my friend and brother to usher me forward.

“Breathe,” Brenton reminded me.

With his hand steadying me, we headed toward the square where everyone scorned our slow approach.

“Ask your idiot friend what they did for fun,” Nalari said, breaking the deafening silence in my head. “Ask him, Elias,” she demanded when I remained quiet.

I fisted my trembling hands beside me but was too worried about falling to shove them in my pockets.

“Nalari wants me to ask you what you guys did for fun,” I rasped out .

From a distance, I saw how Teddy’s eyes widened in what looked like shock when she looked over my head at the two towering dragons. I sent her a reassuring smile I wasn’t sure she saw. Beside her, the young Victoria bounced from foot to foot as she took in the dragons that approached them.

Fearless. The child was fearless, making me like her all the more.

“I fixed the dog you made her,” Nalari said, reading my thoughts with far too much ease. “You can give it to her when this is over.”

I murmured a thanks through our bond.

Although I couldn’t make out anything the humans said, there was a constant buzz from the people’s murmurs.

“Did she call us foolish?” Brenton finally asked.

I scoffed. “Idiots.”

He forced out a laugh that made George turn around to look at us. He winked, and Brenton lifted his middle finger in reply.

“We built a few sleds,” he said, his tone wistful. “Everly found a steep hill, and we flew down it with our sleds for hours.”

Everyone fell silent when we entered the square. I nodded at Teddy and Everly, who stood next to each other, their hands clasped together.

“Because of you, we played,” he continued. “It was the most fun I’ve had in years. Since we were in our youth, maybe.” He shrugged. “The only one missing was you. Next time?” He lifted a brow in question.

“Sure,” I pushed out.

“I thought you were foolish gifting your magic to your friends,” Nalari said. “I see now it was the right thing to do. You gave them something special, and through their fits of laughter, I heard and felt how much they wished you were there with them to enjoy a few hours of carefree fun.”

"Hmm. Rare praise from my Guardian.”

I felt her huff of amusement behind me.

Uncle Hudson strode to the center of the square, where a fae held a young boy of fifteen or sixteen years of age. When my uncle called me over, I went.

My stomach dropped as the murmurs started up again.

“I know you do not agree with the punishments the Elders have ordered.” Nalari’s tone was tender, affectionate even.

“Your uncle is far better at obeying than you’ll ever be, but you, Elias, are better at caring.

You’ll find a way to make this right. And I promise you, I’ll help you in coming up with a plan that we can execute. ”

With my throat raw and dry, I swallowed hard. “Thank you, Nalari.”

It seemed those were the only two words I uttered to my friends and Guardian these days.

“Straighten your shoulders and look like the heir that you are,” she told me. “These people need someone they can count on, and they will neither trust nor follow someone who cowers.”

She was right. Guardians help me, she was right.

I forced my shoulders back and tipped my head up. While every part of me wanted to search out Teddy again, she was a weakness I couldn’t allow myself, so I kept my focus on the boy.

The boy's pallor was ashen beneath the dirt that caked his face, a contrast to the brown color of his skin. His whole body quaked on his knees as the fae warrior held him upright.

From the front of the crowd, Donnie rushed forward with an outstretched hand. “Elias! ”

Before he made it to us, I ran toward him and grabbed him by the collar, letting my canines lengthen. The townspeople gasped but otherwise remained quiet while I dragged him back into the crowd.

“Stay quiet,” I hissed into his ear. “Or you’ll be next to meet the commander’s wrath.”

I tugged on his collar twice before straightening the wrinkles on his shirt.

“The boy,” he argued weakly, his widened eyes roaming over my face in confusion and fear.

“The boy”—I thundered—“is under trial.” I turned to face the fae holding him. “What are his crimes?”

My uncle nodded at me as I strode toward them.

“Stealing,” the fae replied. “He was given his rations but doubled back to take more.”

By the look of his sunken cheeks and frail frame, whatever rations he’d been given weren’t enough. Neither were the tattered clothes he wore that were too large and thin to ward him from the cold.

Another fae stepped forward with a whip.

Although our bond was broken, I still felt the sudden fear and revulsion that overtook Teddy. Knowing it would break me, I couldn’t chance a look in her direction.

“Everly’s taking care of her,” Nalari said. “She’s talking to her and keeping her still. Do you want me to subdue her?”

I did. More than anything, I wanted Nalari to subdue Teddy so she wouldn’t warrant Uncle Hudson’s attention, but he had to see I could maintain control in my region.

“No,” I gritted out.

Ignoring the whip, I knelt in front of the boy and tipped his chin up so that he could look at me. Scared brown eyes clung to me. He lifted his right hand to grip his left arm, as if that would keep his scrawny arms from shaking.

“What’s your name?” I asked him, just above a whisper.

His bottom lip quivered, and he dropped his gaze to the snow-covered ground he knelt on. “Javier.”

“The punishment for stealing is a lash for each item you stole,” I told him, tipping his angular chin up again.

His eyes reddened as tears silently streamed down his dirty cheeks.

“What did you steal, Javier?”

“I have a list of all the stolen goods here,” the fae holding the whip said.

I took the sheet of paper from his extended hand, and after folding it, I put it in my pocket.

“I’d like to hear it from Javier,” I told him and the silent crowd.

The boy swallowed hard, making his throat bob. “An apple.” His voice shook, but he kept his eyes trained on mine. “Two bananas, four strawberries, and three potatoes.”

I nodded, pushing down the bile that rose to my throat. This boy would receive ten lashings for something so small. For food that would barely sustain him.

“Why did you steal these items?” I asked.

“My sisters are sick.” On a hiccup, he ran the back of his hand under his nose. “The rations we get aren’t enough. They’re starving, s-sir, and I didn’t think anyone would miss the food I took.”